Wednesday, September 06, 2006

Caught the first Coho (AKA Silver) Salmon of the year in the Buskin River. My dad got to witness this, and I think he liked seeing his little girl wrestle her in and beat the you-know-what out of her in order to end her life swiftly. That's fairly primal. Anyway, here is my lovely fish in all of her 12.5 pound glory:

Not too much on the knitting front (although I had a disaster with some Felt Clogs- more on that later). Am busy packing (paying especial attention to what to knit on the journey) and making venison jerky to take down to Portland, as we leave EARLY tomorrow. Will be sure to post many pics of my Grand Tour of all things fiber in the NW...

Monday, September 04, 2006

First, the good stuff... I spun a nice yarn yesterday. I've been working on a nice lace weight blend of various fibers: a little alpaca, merino, with some silk and angora bunny thrown in for good measure. But, after about 500 yds and still going, I needed a change. Here she is:

It's only about 65 yds, but I am going to include this in a lengthwise-knit scarf with some autumn color yarns. She was inspired by the fall colors of Vine Maples in my native Pacific NW. They are pretty much the only tree in those parts that turns the gorgeous shades that folks back East are so fortunate to have in all of their trees. The base yarn is good ol' Ashford Corriedale sliver (about 5 shades blended together on Yarnpunk's drum carder), plied with some (gasp!) yarn I found at la Target in their dollar section along with some snippets of stuff left from a cute lil' capelet from a while back.

Speaking of free use of nice drum carders, I also blended up these little rovings, inspired by the colors of peacocks. Again, same Corriedale sliver, with loads of Angelina in both "Wisteria" and "Peacock" (big surprise) thrown in. I'm planning to ply it all with some nice aqua viscose and heavy black quilting thread while trapping bits of peacock feather and some eyelashy-kinda stuff in the yarn. There is a whole cool story about my love for peacocks, which I will share when the yarn is done (it is really deserving of its very own post).

OK, now for the possible fug. I mentioned in the last post that I was making an Old Shale stole in Kureyon #74. Despite my recent love affair with Kureyon, I think I found one colorway that is not cool. At all- see?

I think if all of these shades were combined, it would make puce. Puuuuce. Yuuuuck. I mean, I'm thinking about just casting off and felting it into a potholder (which would be good, since I just ruined our last one). You know, as a potholder, she would still be functional and appreciated... but just not worn anywhere but in my kitchen, you know? I like how the ripples of this fabric show off the colors in Kureyon so nicely, so I think I will just take the concept and apply it to another colorway. Sorry #74, you have lots of personality, but I just do not think you are the one for me... I'm going to start seeing #147 and see what she can do- she is a nice series of blues, after all, and I think she wil make for a nice watery effect with the Old Shale stitch. No really #74, it's not you, it's me...

Sunday, September 03, 2006

Still no pics yet- will be sure to get some in soon! I have however decided my next project: the Sakiori vest (short version) from Folk Vests. No, it's not terribly fiddly, but I am going to be traveling to Portland, OR for the next couple of weeks, so I will have the fun of working on something somewhat substantial, but portable and easy to tend to during the distractions of travel. I'm really looking forward to the trip- I will be flying down with my dad, who has been in Kodiak the past two weeks (so fun!) and will be visiting all of the friends and fam. I also have a Grand Tour of fiber shops planned. There's the ever-delightful Northwest Wools (where I got my first drop spindle eons ago), Yarn Garden, Knit Purl, The Naked Sheep... and a trip to Hood River in the Columbia River Gorge to visit Knot Another Hat. There has been a big increase in fine yarn/fiber shops in Portland over the last few years, and I intend to hit as many as possible. I'm going to focus mainly on enhancing my fiber stash- I have enough yarn (did I just say that?), but not very much diversity in the hair department. I have some sheep, some llama, a little silk... and that is it for spinning materials. I'm going to be on the lookout for all kinds of neat hand-dyed sorta stuff that we do not get here in the North Country. I'll be sure to show off where I go- and what I get!As far as what I'm working on right now, I started a scarf for my mom in Blue Sky Alpacas (sport weight) in a nice heathery brown. I'm using the Eyelet Panes lace patt used for the Glasgow Lace top in the latest issue of IK. Didn't care for the top so much, but the patt is pretty in scarf form. Also started an Old Shale stole using Noro Kureyon #74. I'm going to full it slightly, which I think will make the Kureyon feel soft enough for shoulder-wrapping purposes. Plus, it was a good knit for going "out the road" today with my Dad (yes, we only have one road in Kodiak). What a blast. Again, I will post pics soon, but must run off for an Alaskan Halibut/Sockeye Salmon dinner. Life is so unfair sometimes...